Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1789-1924 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities external link and the Library of Congress. Learn more

Download & Play

Questions

Newspaper Page Text

I TRUTH 111
I THE CHEAPNESS OF BEAUTY.
I BY ERNEST CROSBY.
if wo see a tendency to polarization
I m society, the ugly forces of produc
i n huddling together at one end and
he more sightly ones of luxurious ex
penditure at the other, wo may per
mds imagine this tendency carrying
Itself to its logical limit and all tho
dirty work of tho country or of tho
world corraled and localized in some
concentration camp, whence by some
wireless system its benefits could bo
spread over tho face of humanity. Wo
might take the region of Pittsburgh
for Instance and deflect the economic
ails of the earth, until it became tho
social and industrial South Pole, and,
as soon as any man anywhere began
to indulge in some unbeautlful means
ot livelihood, he could be banished to
the Forks of tho Ohio, and there per
mitted to defile Creation as ho pleas
ed. The counties which are grouped
about Fort Duquesne are already a
good deal of a purgatory. Why not
make an inferno of thorn, so as to let
the rest of tho country befome a par
adise? It is just conceivable that such
an attempt might be made, but alas,
it Is perfectly clear that the new haven
would 1)0 less habitable than the new
hell. A world without manual labor
would ho an inhuman monstrosity, and
the partial experiments nlready made
In this direction prove It. Go to any
ono of the favorite "Paries" of the
aristocracy, where near our great cit
ies they build their villas together, sur
rounded, perhaps a hundred of them,
by a great exclusive fence, with watch
men at the gates who admit no shabby
Individual of any kind, unless he ad
ministers directly to the comfort of
thoso within. These parks are situ
ated in tho midst of the most beautiful
scenery and tho most Invigorating air,
and yet no man, I will not say with
a heart, hut with a stomach, can real
ly live there. It is a playing at living.
The very atmosphere is artificial, and
the lungs are stifled for want of a hu
man environment. Better far tho
worst of factories, the most dismal of
tenements, than perpetual confinement
In the purlieus of a "country club."
No. We cannot get rid of the ugli
ness of manufacture and poverty "by
sequestration, for, if we try it, wo
shall surely find the worst form of
spiritual ugliness left behind. Beauty
means art, and art is a power of flow
er or labor and cannot be grafted upon
any other stem. Tho dllltante appan
age of luxury which we call art is a
sport, tho issue of unnatural condi
tions and It is only because our lives
are also unnatural that we fall 10 seo
fi k', Vot ,dlcnoss, should be beau
iful, and beauty belongs by rights to
ino worker and not to the Idlor. The
RS,n,and worlfshop and exchange
rnn docoratel, not tho drawing
room. By reserving art for the rich,
nnnM mado t expensive, and this is
. e(r -?arlt of degradation. Beauty
wori, w,Ule clieal'est thing in tho
Zin VhatQver ls Plentiful is
a,' and " artistic people would
SpvUiy,lnt0 everything. Wo can
see even today in the Swiss chalet and
ari i!anSe coutry house that a
nmL ay of mmy ,s not needed to
qui a" artIstic offeet. Beauty ro
quires only an eyo and an ear, a hand
BhonM iu1, Tt noeds men. and there
is w b ?? lack of tlem. If there
L tn n"1(1 better (,Qvote our atten
leavB o 10x maiifacturo of them, and
U win ft t0 take care of ltso,f. anrt
chenn n ke caro of ltself. Beauty is
mou?Jtnoi,,Bh' but we pay an enor
mua price for our ugliness.
matiPrf1"1 do somotlng to remedy
S tZ,Jr otheise wo shall reach
to a wnH?SS, Passase. Give tho rein
come Z rId,of Proflt-hunters, and it will
ITZl irie,f- ,A" the old myth teach
out an n1?10 lesson- The flood wiped
from n "gly World- not ver' different
M Si th w-m ThG theosophlsts give
811 tho stalls of tho sinking of tho
Atlantean continent with Its highly
civilized millions, and that continent
undoubtedly had its Wall Street, Its
sky-scrapers, and Its slums. And no
miracle is needed to bring such a civ
ilization to an end, for It carries tho
seeds of Its own destruction In Its
womb. We are becoming Titans of
brute force preying upon ono another.
This must bo ended somehow, but wo
may bo able to dispense with Plages
and cataclysms, if wo only undo.tako
to change our manners ourselves.
And a keen sense of tho ugliness of
it all may bo just tho straw necessary
to break tho camel's back. Wo can
put up with a great deal of iniquity,
until it becomes hideous, and then, at
last, we may revolt against it. I knew
a man who tried to break the tobacco
habit because it was unwholesome,
extravagant, and foolish, but ho was
never successful, until one day ho dis
coverd that the back of his teeth was
nearly pot-black, and that determined
CANYON SCENE OF THE YOSEMITE
him. Ho never smoked again. Let us
bo shocked In tho same way by our
own ugliness and seek to reform!
Tho Craftsman.
o
Mr. Pearson, tho English publisher,
owns a popular magazine, a weekly
paper, and nlno newspapers, all in
England and distributed between Lon
don, Birmingham, Leicester, and New
castle. His list Includes papers of di
verse styles, sizes, politics, and de
portment. He appreciates and owns
all kinds, Tory, Liberal, Unionist, Im
perialist, Conservative, and Radical.
When ho acquires a new paper ho
aims to keep it in the same groove
in which ho finds it, and to sell it to
tho samo readers. Therefore ho makes
no sweeping changes in tho staffs of
papers that ho buys But in ono par
ticular all his properties aro harmon
ious. They all support Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain's protective policy. Ono
of the latest of his acquisitions is tho
old conservative, free-trado Lon
don Standard. Ho desired that it
sho''V xemain old and conservative,
but free-trade proclivities have
made mblo. Not that he pressed the
point with undue ardor. He asked all
tho Standard's editors to stay, and
most of them stnyed. Ho was willing
to let free trado and protection go un
discussed for a time, but oven that did
not satisfy Mr. Curtis, the Standard's
old editor, who declared that ho must
bo outspoken, either against Mr.
Chamberlain or for him, and that ho
was not for him. So Mr. Curtis re
signed, and wrote to tho Times ox
plaining why, and tho matter has
given tho other journak and their cor
respondents a topic on which they
have relieved their minds profusely
and with glowing candor.
It is an interesting situation. If a
publisher wants to own a lot of news
papers with conflicting views on var
ious subjects, there is no moral rea
son why ho shouldn't. If ho has a
talent for management, ho can man
ago a group of papers to some advan
tage, buying his Ink and white, paper
and even his news In larger quanti
ties, and therefore cheaper, than if ho
had only ono to provide for. Ho can
make all his papers reflect more -or
les3 his energy and tasto and knowl
edge in many particulars without dis
turbance, but If ho undertakes to
make them all support a detail of po
litical policy about which there is In
tense feeling and abrupt disparity of
public sentiment, of course ho must
look out for squalls. Ho has changed
tho situation. Tho readers of a paper
don't care who buys tho Ink, so long
as it Is black; nor do they greatly caro
who supplies tho Ideas and convic
tions, so long as they aro to thoir tasto
and accord with thoir expectation.
But to swap convictions on them in a
vital matter Is a critical oxporiment
and usually fitter to bo made for con
science sake than In tho way of busi
ness. All England knows now, as tho re
sult of tho affair of tho Standard, just
what papers Mr. Pearson owns, and
that they all support Mr. Chamber
lain's policy. If ho Intended to pub
lish papers of opposing politics, ho
ought not to have albwed himself tho
luxury of having political views. Some
of our capitalists havo understood tho
matter better. They havo been for
both sides. But they havo not been jH
successful as nowspapor owners, and HI
nono of them that wo know of has at- i HI
tempted to own a string of assorted '4 fl
papers. Mr. Hearst owns a stiing of j HI
papers, but they aro not assorted. They HI
all bohavo alike, and thoir owner pro- ' HI
vides them all with convictions out of ' ' " Ml
tho samo chaldron, just as ho provides HI
them all with pictures, poetry, moral 'i HI
homilies, sporting news, and ink. Wo ' ij jlHJ
think Mr. Hearst's method Is wiser -'i IkI
than Mr. Pearson's, but perhnps tho ;1-1H
distances In England are not great i!!HI
enough lo ninko them practicable HI
there. Each ono of Mr. Hearst's pa- !;HI
pors needs territory. Bring them as ''HI
nenr together as Mr. Pearson's pa- HI
pors aro, and tho combustion of omo- HI
tlons might bo greater than would bo iiiHI
consistent with tho public safety. "'!HI
Harper's Weekly. tilHI
n iilBI
ABOVE THE PETTING AGE. f
Vhy Queen Victoria Did Not Fondle ' HI
Swazi "Infant." iffll
Sir John Richard Robinson In his ( ifll
"lfty Years of Fleet Street" tells HI
'f an amusing Incident during the I'wil
Isit of tho Swazi deputation from the I Hi
'ransvaal to England at tho close ol f HI
S94. "Tho Swazi braves went to HI
VIndsor and had an audlcnco of her 'gll
mjesty Queen Victoria. They wore f'jHI
cry graciously received. Ono of their ffil'l
umbor began to speak, and an in- , jjiil
orprotor followed him phraso by ( jffiffl
ihraso. 'Wo como, O great mother,' ,ljl
o said, 'to bring to you our babo. tmm
"ako him, O mother, to thy knees;
old him to thy breast.' Hero tho HI
luccn, half frightened, exclaimed, , HI
But whoro is tho child? I don't see ' Kl
lim. Whoro is ho?' 'Here, O mother,' Mjm
:ald tho Swazi, gravely, at tho same fiyl
Imo bringing forward a big black ', ffljl
ibout six feet high and weighing well gf I
ivcr 200 pounds. 'Ho Is hero.'" f jfjg
Perils Faced by Divers. . , fifM
Pearl diving and ruby mining ap- "' fl
peal to tho gambling Instinct which . "l
3 part of tho Burmcso character. A i aJI
nan may bo a beggar ono day and tho , . mi, I
loxt, through a lucky find at diving or ' i gSI
'igging, may bo rich for tho rest of 111
lis lifo. But pearl diving has its '' ' lSI
erils, somo of which may bo gath- j )l rafl
jred from tho following passago: I ,jfil
'They talk of ambergris and whales r ' jlll
ind divers' risks; of two recent deaths ! I nfl
rom tho snapping of tho tubo. In ono I $H
nso tho life-tender hauled hand-over- JBH
and, but not quick enough to savo his ' fwl
nan, who camo up dead and black in i ' ! H
ho faco. Another's helmet, being un- ' ' KrH
uljustcd, lot in tho water. Ho slg- " iIhaI
mlcd, but was kept down, bolng sup- j "11
osed nervous, and ultimately camo ( , , H
ip dead. Still another diver's head J &H
welled up so that thoy could scarcely ' fiH
'emovo tho helmet. Tho diver's life 'JulH
n theso seas is a risky ono, short, "' JwH
iotous, lucrative." HUH
Winter Dreams. JM
mill can I somclltniH l'rar In dreams. Iftfl
Around t lie cuciiimI coml koy.M, i ii l3?H
ClinntliiK tliclr m.'sri.ty tld:il tlioni-s. , VmM
Tho deep Ik-nnuiinn nous. t- lfllB
Sllll sco tlirotmli mornlMK'H turquolso air, "I1 I 11311
With outluirHt n( Homo lyilc cow, , ( jfflH
'lie HiniHt't liicu.slt'd iciIIjIkIh faro l ' Isfll
I'l om boiiRh tu cedar bough. iHH
"(111 cntcli from Ileitis that gleam like i ' sKI
Htinw , 'i I lifllH
(The Hucct Know of that blossom zonel) '' KI
Kim in ns Kokl ccntorod, row on row, I 'IHI
Tho Illy attar blown. i , IJKH
Still senso tho symmetry of palms IHI
Their stately boles, their pendant i iHI
plumes 1 IHH
Tho sudden storms, tho vast blue calms i 'Hl
Night's Hturles-j tropic glooms. i . S
Ah, wondrous potency of dream, i '(' jfll
Beyond all rango of mortal art, I .' Hl
In winter thus to stir a gleam U t Vl
Of summer In tho lirart! i I ' 'laH
Clinton Scollard. i ' M
'I'll
.w i fin !' .... -ifyASmi